My Professor Spent Our Entire Seminar Whining About How There’s Too Many Girls In Our Group And Not

list of feminist horror books for all my radblr horror fans!!

if you're sick of misogyny/rape scenes/sexualized murder in male written horror, these books are for you! all of these come with varying levels of trigger warnings, so i highly recommend looking them up before you dive in!

-Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is a classic. most people look over the clearly feminist theme to only remember the Creature, but it's a heart wrenching feminist book about autonomy, misogyny, with pretty significant religious misogyny undertones

-Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado will always and forever be on my all time favorite books list. it's a collection of short stories, but the first one is the absolute best, called The Husband Stitch. she's such a gorgeous writer, The Husband Stitch especially is so haunting and heartbreaking, telling the story of a woman's life marrying and having kids, and what her husband takes from her, and just generally a representation of married women's pain and oppression.

-Motherthing by Ainslie Hogarth is addictive. also incorporates marriage themes and complex i cities but deals especially with female "paranoia" and "hysteria" (quotes bc we know those concepts are man made for women and forced onto us). it has this domestic aesthetic that's very creepy and also just very cool

-Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung. ohhhhh my. i'm in love with this author, she's so incredible. Cursed Bunny is a short story collection that deals with misogyny, generational trauma, aging as a woman, and even delves into being kink critical if you're keen at interpretation. she's from South Korea, and also deals a lot in Korean culture and Korea-specific misogyny. it is translated to english, so unfortunately i will always mourn the writing style of it in original Korean but it's still written so beautifully!

-Hangsaman and The Haunting of Hill House both by Shirley Jackson. i'm sorry to clump them both together but for the sake of space + time i will. they're both gradual-horror, they definitely build. a lot of female hysteria type stuff, female loneliness, just generally such a good, creepy vibe that culminates in a truly scary ending.

-Maeve Fly by CJ Leede. a lot of people here on radblr call for truly insane female leads. this is that book! the main character is truly just a bad person, a psychopath, and she isn't moralized or justified in any way. she is allowed to just be crazy and evil without being diluted because she's a woman. women don't tend to get to be evil--truly evil--in media like men do, so it's cool to see a true madwoman. it's very witty, very clever. it's also a love letter to LA in a way, which hit home for me lmao. it's really just a peek into the mind of a psychopathic woman and the crazy stuff she does. very entertaining. not for the faint of heart.

-Such a Pretty Smile by Kristi DeMeester is sooo good. i don't normally get too jumpy about my horror, but this one had me looking up every two seconds to make sure i was safe. genuinely very scary. it's got heavy mother daughter themes, it's primarily about the demureness and politeness expected of women and girls. the "pretty smile" thing is obviously a reference to catcalling, but also to the expectation that we should always be pretty and polite and content and demure. it's a lot of women just breaking free and going mad.

-A Guest in the House by EM Carol. i read this one online and then NEEDED to own it so bad i bought it immediately. it is a graphic novel so a slightly different medium, but the art is so stunning and moving. it's also got marriage themes, about repressed lesbianism, women's desires etc etc. it's so good and beautiful and moving

-Nineteen Claws and a Blackbird by Agustina Bazterrica is another short story collection. not necessarily all horror, but most. i had to read this one twice it was so good. it's harder to talk about short story collections because there's so many different plots and themes, but trust me, it's fantastic

-The Bad Ones by Melissa Albert. it's a bit more rudimentary writing, but it's so so so good. it captures girlhood so wonderfully, especially the whimsical, daydream part and equally the dark, insane, human-sacrifices-with-barbie-dolls parts of that makes any sense. it's about goddesses and monsters and dreams and girlhood and the trauma of growing up a girl and it's marvelous

-A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G Summers. not exactlyyyy a horror but kinda?? it's about a female cannibal who kills and eats her lovers. it's hilarious, like laugh out loud until the people around you stare hilarious. the main character is so witty and man hating and cool. she's a misandrist icon, just so suave and clever and ruthless.

i'll reblog with more books as i find and read them! :)

To add, even back in 2009, there was a push that "bisexuality is transphobic," something that was designed to both attack anyone that dared to think about science (because bisexuality is being able to be attracted to both women and men), and also to wear bisexuals down.

Even on a website where bisexuality was defended, even back in 2009 when that page was published, bisexuality as a sexuality was already massively weakened, where bisexuals were so broken down that they were already tying themselves in knots to not be seen as transphobic.

Bisexuals in general are the absolute worst at defending ourselves and our sexuality, thanks to just how prevalent biphobia is everywhere. It tends to be so much easier for bisexuals to latch onto an entirely different label to try and obfuscate the fact that they're bisexual - both to themselves and others.

What isn't talked about enough is the intersectional bigotry that bisexual women face. A bisexual woman is seen as hypersexual and is presumed to have zero boundaries, so if she dares have any then she's a lying tease who can't be raped because she always wants it, who is both the hateful, lying and homophobic straight woman looking for male attention, but also the closeted self-hating lesbian as soon as she dates a woman and needs to admit to being a lesbian already because denying it is selfish and she needs to think about other lesbians, but if she dates a man after breaking up amicably with a woman, then she suddenly and finally becomes the evil, abusive bisexual lesbophobe that preys on unsuspecting lesbians to use them and deliberately lies to use lesbian culture.

Is it any wonder that bisexuals made up a whole bunch of nonsense labels to avoid accurately being called bisexual, when there's both so much entitlement to our time and bodies purely for existing, and also so much hatred of us?

We talk a lot about how it’s homophobic to tell lesbians that they need to be open to dating males.

But by focusing on on how harmful this is to lesbians, we leave bisexuals behind.

Many trans people have an attitude of “If lesbians/gay men don’t want me, at least bisexuals do.” And that’s just not true, and not fair to bisexuals. It leads to a culture of expecting bisexual women to be okay with any configuration of biological sex, hormonal status, and body parts.

Bisexuals are therefore framed as a group of women who are supposed to be available as a potential partner for anyone who wants them.

So it’s not just homophobic, it’s part of rape culture. Because it aims to teach (mostly) women that they’re not allowed to form their own feelings about their sexuality and their attraction. It teaches women that their sexuality isn’t for them. Their sexuality is a political statement, and there is a right and wrong statement to make.

The fact of the matter is that no one has to date someone they’re not attracted to. No one has to try to develop attraction for someone they’re not innately interested in. No one has to “examine their preferences” when it comes to who they want in their bed. This includes bisexuals.

Yes, women standing up for ourselves does lead to a lot of lonely mtfs who can’t get dates. No, that is not women’s problem.

This affects all of us, but it affects bisexuals in a unique way that’s worth talking more about.

I think that's incredibly interesting, but it's also worth noting that the reason that those people feel that way is because they've been trained to see the world that way.

When friends, social media, charities, celebrities and even governments push the idea that a person's identity is a set of tangible things that can be seen and touched and bought, from hairstyles to clothing, then to flag pins and phone covers and stickers, then to be without that is to be without an identity. Without those gender identities, then they're ostracised from their friends and peers indulging in the same thing. Are they even real people at all?

I think it's less that it's a deliberate bridge to cross a social gap, and more a way for them to cling to something tangible that they can then point to in their own minds and say that is why I feel so different and ironically, that is why I feel so alone. Then, they can connect with others that feel just as alone, which whips the social contagion frenzy even higher.

The world right now is one that pushes the idea that to fix something, you need to buy something else. Actual, helpful introspection, figuring out what their hopes, dreams and even hobbies are to connect with others ends up becoming too daunting.

If you're afraid, why on earth would you go out of your way to risk being ignored or hurt or laughed at by someone in the real world, when you can safely buy things and slap flags and different pronouns onto a social media account? Why risk engaging offline with anyone when the online world has a safe echo chamber that tells you how good and valid and perfect you are, and underlines that everything that feels difficult or hurts you is because of others not understanding you? Is it not comforting to have such a strict set of rules to follow and lines to regurgitate, when, if left alone to think for yourself, you might be wrong and end up upsetting someone else and then ending up even more alone? Does it not feel good to be given permission to lash out and hate everyone and cut out everyone that tells you a harsh truth? Isn't it cathartic to tear apart others, just the way that the bullies at home or at school tore you apart?

It taps in perfectly to the stereotypical teenage angst, and it's addictive, too. There is nothing more addictive in this world than the taste of righteous anger and even more righteous hatred - directed, of course, towards the safe (and encouraged) target of women that see through it and just won't play along.

why do you people like gender so much? it's annoying

Two people are standing in front of you. One is male, and says “I want to share a space with her”. The other is female, and says “I don’t want to share a space with him”.

Think: Which person do you listen to? Which person’s desires do you care more about? Which person’s preferences do you think are more important? Which person’s boundaries do you think are less important? Which person do you think is more important, and which person do you think is less important? Why?

It doesn't even need to be as frightening as that.

I love my male family members, and they're definitely good men in general. They're kind and supportive and listen. However, they're still misogynistic. They don't even register the misogyny. They're not abusive or controlling, they're not violent or deliberately cruel. They even agree with a lot of feminist beliefs. They're simply misogynistic over labour and the like, and they still benefit from the patriarchy.

Men being kind or helping with something doesn't change the truth of the patriarchy. It's such an asinine argument.

hey um gyns did you hear? Yeagh. Post about 3 men helping with shopping cart?? Systemic misogyny GONE. systems of male control POOF. Men good always. Men amazing. Radfems should go outside and meet 3 shopping cart men who are so kind and cute. Then they'll change their evil Minds.

Life. Death. Together. Gone, but still reaching for the sky.

'but-but bsdm and violent sex doesn't affect anybody!' yes it does. now girls who want to be seen as attractive and loved normally by their partner in bed is considered a 'puritan' and 'vanilla'. they are shamed and routinely made fun for liking something normal by people irl and in the media.

Why is this guy monologuing like he's some sort of edgy anime villain?

To that “trans man” who keeps pestering me; shut up. You were never trans. You were always cis. You were always a TERF. You were born a TERF and will die a TERF. You can never be forgiven even if you try. What you attempt to salvage of your shattered life will be too little too late.

You keep trying to say things to me. But they don’t matter. They don’t matter until you give up TERFism. You don’t matter until you give up TERFism. But you won’t. Because TERFs don’t change. And me keeping you out? Me PROTECTING myself from you? You who pose a fucking threat to all trans people? That’s just natural. Those who hurt the pack are naturally discarded.

Stop acting like a victim. You’re a TERF.

You’re a TERF.

You’re a TERF.

You’re a TERF.

And that’s enough for me to want you dead.

No matter what you try and say or how sweet you try to act.

You’re a TERF.

The Issue With "True Trans" ♀️♂️

For anyone who doesn't know, "true trans" are conservative-leaning trans-identified folks. They typically claim to know they are not "really" the opposite sex. They are more likely to say they have a mental disorder. They are more likely to call themselves transsexuals. They are more likely to say it's okay they take hormones and got surgery but criticize other trans-identified people for doing so. They do not endorse males in women's spaces. And conservatives typically lap it up. There are many issues with these people, and they are no friend to women and girls.

First, they still uphold misogynistic gender norms. A great example of this is Blaire White, conservatives' favorite trans-identified male. One look at him tells you everything you need to know. The balloon lips, the big fake boobs shown off in every outfit, the valley girl speak, the super long hair that he can't stop flipping while he talks. How is this different from Dylan Mulvaney cosplaying every straight male fantasy of what a woman should look and be like?

Second, similar to conservatives, they do nothing to help women when it comes to other topics that tend to affect women even more than trans activism. In fact, many of them identify as conservative. These include people like Marcus Dib, Blaire White, Caitlyn Jenner, and Jessica Gill. Others, such as Buck Angel, who calls herself "Daddy" and "Tranpa", btw (sorry if you're eating while reading this), claims to be a liberal and simply doesn't advocate for women when it comes to anything else other than being against the more extreme trans ideologists. Rarely if never will you hear these people speak out for reproductive rights or against female poverty, for example. Horrifyingly, Buck Angel worked in porn, on Pornhub, no less, for several years, making herself a fortune, and even when pushed, doubles down and refuses to call out the evils of the sex industry or to admit that porn is misogynistic. In fact, several years ago it came out that a 14-year-old girl named Rose Kalemba had been raped and the video put on YouTube. It took months of her begging Pornhub and then pretending to be an attorney for them to take it down, and in a now-deleted tweet (which survives online), Buck calls her a coward.

Third, they are ingratiating. They want only to be accepted into the conservative fold. They love their place in the limelight as conservative darlings. Again, these are typically conservatives' pet trans-identified folks. Often, conservatives are willing to call them by their preferred pronouns, a consideration not offered to other more liberal/Left-Wing trans-identified people. They uphold misogyny when it's the kind conservatives like. They uphold capitalism. They tend to love Donald Trump.

Please don't let these sheep in wolf's clothing fool you.

Mount Holyoke College students at pride in Northampton, MA in 1989. via mhlyonspride